Date: March 20, 2025
Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov
Buffalo, NY — U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that John L. Hutchins of Lewiston, NY, pleaded guilty before Judge Meredith A. Vacca to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, which carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul E. Bonanno and Douglas A. C. Penrose, who are handling the case, stated that between March 2020, and March 2024, Hutchins conspired with co-defendant Roberto Soliman and others to file fraudulent loan applications under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG). The loans available for these programs were designed to provide emergency financial assistance pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES Act). Hutchins and Soliman applied for loans under the following companies, which were owned by Hutchins:
- Rapids Theatre Niagara Falls, USA, Inc.
- 1711 Main, LLC
- Bear Creek Entertainment, LLC
- Hutch Enterprises, LLC
- The Hutchins Agency, LLC
- CWE Entertainment, Corp. (owned by defendant Soliman)
Between March and August 2020, Hutchins and Soliman received five Economic Injury Disaster Loans totaling $779,500.00. In addition, they received SVOG loans totaling $989,905.05, a PPP loan from Bank on Buffalo totaling $74,838, and a PPP loan from Northwest Bank totaling $41,140. In support of each of the loans, Hutchins and Soliman submitted false revenue and expense figures for the businesses on the loan applications.
Charges remain pending against Roberto Soliman.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Harry Chavis, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, under the direction of Rose Brophy, Director of Field Operations, and the New York State Office of Professional Discipline.
IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.